Perfectus
by Electryone
Summary: Hermione creates a potion with unfortunate consequences.


**Perfectus: Chapter 1**

Despite having been brave enough to fight in the Battle of Hogwarts, Dennis Creevey was still intimidated by the thought of seeing Severus Snape.

He had explained his plight to Minerva McGonagall, who had assured him that Snape was always happy to help his former students.

Dennis hadn't believed that for even a second, and McGonagall knew it. Yes, Snape was always happy to help former students—if they were Slytherins.

Taking a deep breath, Dennis approached the heavy wooden door and knocked. After a few moments, it opened a crack.

"Yes, what do you want?" asked a deep voice, which he knew belonged to Snape.

"Good afternoon, Professor Snape, sir." His voice cracked, making him sound Not-Very-Gryffindor. He cleared his throat. "It's Dennis Creevey. I don't know if you remember me, but I was your student in Potions and Defence Against the Dark Arts about ten years ago and—"

The door opened. Snape stood in front of him, as imposing as ever. "Mr. Creevey, I remember you. I'm a very busy man, so I would appreciate it if you would cease your babbling and tell me what it is you want."

Dennis felt a twist in his stomach as he looked at the man in front of him. Snape had traded in his voluminous robes for Muggle trousers and a simple white button up shirt. Little else had changed—his hair was still stringy and greasy, his nose still had that unattractive shape and his skin was still extremely pale. The sneer that Dennis remembered as a child had not changed, either.

"Professor Snape, my colleague has had a serious reaction to a potion that she has been creating, and I'm completely at a loss about what to do with her. Professor McGonagall said you might be willing to help."

"Mr. Creevey, I have little time to deal with accidents caused by the ineptitude of others. Take her to St. Mungo's." He began to close the door.

"Professor Snape, she won't go there! She refuses to believe that anything is wrong!"

"In case you've forgotten, Mr. Creevey, _you are a wizard_. You can use _magic_ to get her there. I'm sure that you're not seriously as incompetent as you make yourself out to be. Now, stop complaining to me and leave my house!" The door slammed, causing Dennis to jump. Dennis took a deep breath. Severus Snape had the ability to make him feel like an eleven-year-old. But he was not going to give up easily.

Dennis knocked on the door again. "Professor Snape, I'm not leaving until you hear me out!" He knew that Snape could hear him, but there was no response. So, he kept knocking.

Snape finally opened the door and glared. "Leave. My. Property. Now. Mr Creevey, I have now officially lost patience with you. I don't care that you're a former student or that you lack the magical ability to defend yourself from any hex I may throw at you. If you do not leave in the next ten seconds, you'll regret being born a wizard. Ten…"

"Nine…"

"But, Professor Snape," he began.

"Eight…"

"It's a very Dark potion and—"

"Seven…"

"—you're the only one who knows—"

"Six…"

"—enough about potions—"

"Five…"

"—and Dark magic—"

"Four…"

"—to know what to do—"

"Three…"

"—and Hermione said that—"

Snape stopped counting. "Hermione _Granger?_"

"—she first learned about this particular potion from you."

Dennis tried not to shrink away from the murderous look that darkened Snape's countenance. "What is that intolerable woman doing now? Is she trying to brew potions that are completely out of her league again?"

"I'll have you know that Hermione Granger is the best Potions Mistress in Britain," Dennis shot back, his courage growing with each word. "She made a potion that even _you_ were unable to brew."

He snorted. "Please enlighten me, Mr. Creevey. What is it that the competent Miss Granger was able to brew?"

"I can't tell you; I'm sworn to secrecy. But I can say that Hermione tested the potion on herself. It works perfectly, but, er, well, you see, she's not quite herself."

"What do you mean, Mr. Creevey?"

"You'll have to come and see for yourself."

Severus sighed. Granger must have used a very strong secrecy charm on Creevey. The boy seemed unable to reveal anything of use. "Mr. Creevey, you have wasted enough of my time. I would like you to leave immediately. If you do not, it will be necessary for me to use magical methods to force you out."

"I'm not leaving until you agree to come and at least take a look at Hermione!"

"Fine," Snape said, lifting his wand. "Goodbye, Mr. Creevey," he said with a sneer.

Suddenly, Dennis was pushed backwards, flying at least a hundred meters. His stomach flipped over several times as he flew through the air and ended up against a tree.

He rubbed his back as he stood up, trying to regain his balance. This obviously had not worked. If Snape wouldn't help, who would?

He sighed, then Apparated away.

Severus watched his former student leave. The boy was extremely irritating, more so than Harry Potter and his two friends.

Despite the annoyance he had felt, his interested was piqued. There was only one potion that he had tried and failed to make. The Perfectus Potion.

Legend said that the potion could change everything about oneself that the drinker desired. It was literally perfection in a bottle. Nobody in his lifetime had ever made it, and records of the potion were sketchy and unclear. The potion itself was as enigmatic as the Elixir of Life, which he knew had been created by only one person in history. It was unknown if anyone had ever successfully made the Perfectus Potion.

Many of the world's most accomplished Potions Masters had attempted to create it. Severus himself had tried as a teenager—and failed. As he grew older, he had focused more on other work, specifically potions and spells to fight both for and against the Dark Lord.

Still, the Perfectus Potion had always been at the back of his mind, tempting him to try again. He had not done so, for he knew how many years he could waste trying to make that potion.

That was the only potion that fitted Dennis Creevey's short and vague description.

It was impossible, though. If he couldn't make it, there was no way Hermione Granger could.

It was time to pay his former apprentice a visit.

It wasn't difficult to find Hermione Granger's house. Minerva McGonagall had been elated when he had Flooed to ask for her address. _Severus, I'm so glad that you're finally taking an interest in the lives of your former students_, she had said. _Next you'll be agreeing to go on one of those blind dates that Pomona is so anxious to set up!_ Severus had ignored the comment, knowing that Minerva was simply trying to get a rise out of him.

Hermione Granger's house was situated on the outskirts of North London. Severus knocked on the door. It opened a few moments later.

He expected to see the sniveling Dennis Creevey at the door, or possibly Hermione Granger herself. What he did not expect was the young woman in front of him.

The light brown curls fell to her waist, and the features on her face were completely perfect. What struck him, however, was below the neck. The young woman was wearing a bright red mini-dress that accentuated her voluptuous figure and showed off her perfect, long legs.

He had seen his female students wear clothing like this on Hogsmeade days—and immediately forced them to change while taking off copious amounts of house points. However, none of them had looked like this.

Severus Snape struggled to keep his poise as he looked at the woman, despite the fact that his body was threatening to betray him.

"Can I help you?" the woman asked in a sultry voice.

He ignored the thoughts that flew through his mind about how exactly she could help him. "Yes, I'm looking for Miss Hermione Granger."

"Hermione isn't here right now. I'm her cousin, Miranda Cavendish." She batted her eyelashes. "Come on in. I'd be happy to _entertain_ such a good-looking man while Hermione is gone."

Was she hitting on him? What the hell was going on here? Severus mentally ran through the list of hallucinogenic potions and tried to figure out which one this woman was on. He finally decided to ignore her comment. "I'm Professor Severus Snape. Do you know when Miss Granger will be back?"

"Shortly. Would you like something to drink while you're waiting for her? Tea? Coffee? Firewhisky?"

"Tea, please."

"Of course, Professor."

He really didn't like the glances she was giving him as she left the room. It was way too seductive for his comfort.

Women almost never showed any interest in him. In fact, the last woman who had… Well, he didn't want to think about that. At least not right now.

She returned a few minutes later and set the tea down in front of him.

Immediately, he knew something was wrong. The tea was nothing more than Earl Grey, but its scent was off. A normal person would not have noticed it, but Severus Snape had an acute sense of smell.

He glared at the woman in front of him. "Veritaserum." She giggled nervously as he stood up, towering over her. "You put Veritaserum in my tea? I don't know who you think you are, but you have five seconds to explain yourself."

She giggled again, and he nearly hexed her. The only thing that was stopping him from doing so was the nagging feeling that something was very wrong here. And something about the girl was very familiar… "It was a test, Professor Snape. Congratulations, you've passed it." He glowered for a moment longer, and she didn't flinch. Then she turned away. "I think Hermione should be back in about twenty minutes. Maybe you can come back later?"

"I'll wait."

"Fine, if you'd like to. I'll go and see if I can find her."

Severus stared after the young woman as she hurried from the room. He put his hand on his wand, just in case. He began to walk towards the doorway that Miranda Cavendish had just entered. It was locked. Severus considered using a spell, but decided not to. Hermione would be furious if she found him snooping around. After their acrimonious parting years before, he didn't want to give her any more reason to hate him.

He picked up an old issue of _Potions Weekly_ from the table and began leafing through it. He opened it on a page that contained an article he had written himself about the use of asphodel in medical potions.

After about fifteen minutes, the door opened.

He hadn't seen Hermione Granger in about eight years, but very little had changed. Her hair was still bushy, and she still looked like she cared more for research than fashion and beauty.

Not that she wasn't beautiful. In his opinion, a woman like Hermione Granger, whose face showed intelligence and curiosity, was much more appealing than a woman like Miranda Cavendish.

That had been his problem eight years earlier.

"Professor Snape! What are you doing here?" His heart fluttered as her brown eyes met his, and he realized with horror that his feelings for her had changed very little.

"Can't one visit a former apprentice without causing a stir? Or at least without the fear of being poisoned? No, I suppose not."

"I apologize for the behavior of my cousin, sir. Her actions are—as always—completely inexcusable. Now, to what do I owe the pleasure of this visit?"

"Spare me your platitudes, Granger. I know that you're not happy to see me, so there's no need to pretend otherwise. Your assistant came to pay me a visit, and I was quite curious about something he said. "

"Oh?" The Granger girl was way too nonchalant. She obviously knew what he was talking about. "I can't imagine Dennis saying anything that could possibly be of interest to you."

"While I agree that your insipid assistant has little to say that might attract my attention, I can't help but wonder if you've been working on the Perfectus Potion."

"Did Dennis tell you that, sir? He does tend to tell stories."

He watched her closely. As his apprentice, he'd always known exactly what she was thinking. But now her face showed nothing. He supposed he could use Legilimency, but he wouldn't do so unless it was absolutely necessary.

"Miss Granger, you've become much better at hiding your true feelings. I almost believe you."

"I learned from the best, sir."

"And that, Miss Granger, is an admission if I've ever heard one. So, tell me, is it true? Did you actually brew Perfectus?"

"Professor Snape, that's a ridiculous idea. You know as well as I do that many of the world's greatest Potioneers have been unable to brew that potion. An incompetent little girl, whose only triumph is being Harry Potter's best friend, couldn't possibly do something so complicated."

As anger crept into her eyes, he first realized that she still had a long way to go before she would truly be able to hide her true feelings from him. The second thing he noticed was that she had nearly quoted verbatim something he said to her years earlier.

_The best Potions Masters and Mistresses who ever lived couldn't even brew the Perfectus Potion! And you expect that a little girl, whose biggest success is being Harry Potter's best friend, can do such a thing?_

It had been a few months away from what was supposed to have been the end of a two-year apprenticeship with him. And it was the day that she had walked out of his laboratory—and his life—forever.

He had heard from Minerva that she had finished up the last few weeks with Irena Sklodowska, an elderly and slightly dotty Potions Mistress in Poland. Anyone who was not him had been sufficient for Miss Granger.

"I never used the word incompetent to describe you."

"No, you didn't. Your tone of voice was enough. Now, Professor Snape, I would really appreciate it if you would leave."

"Miss Granger, as much as I admire your resolve in holding a grudge against something I said eight years ago, it is completely obvious that something is wrong here, and I would like to know what it is before you endanger yourself and the rest of the world."

"Professor Snape, you have no right to make accusations against me."

Severus took a step closer to her. His eyes didn't leave hers as he stepped closer, near enough to touch her if he so desired.

_Legilimens_. Without speaking or moving his wand hand, he performed the incantation.  
>He saw one glimpse of her as his apprentice and him working next to her before she pushed him out of her mind.<p>

"Don't you dare use Legilimency on me without my permission, Snape!" Suddenly, her wand was at his throat. He had been so intent on getting into her mind that he hadn't really paid attention to what her hands were doing. Apparently, he wasn't the only one who had been keeping his wand close.

"Miss Granger, both your Occlumency skills and your reflexes have improved. Impressive."

"Snape, I don't know what the hell you're doing here, but I do know that you are a despicable man. I would be happy to live the rest of my life without ever seeing you again."

With a wave of her wand, her front door opened, and he found himself thrown through it. The door slammed and locked behind him.

_That went better than expected,_ he thought.

**Eight years earlier**

He should not have used Legilimency that day. The temptation had been too great, her eyes too inviting.

_She sat on the table in his laboratory, her legs wrapped around his waist, her mouth on his. His shirt was unbuttoned, and her hands running up his chest. _

That was the point that he had taken himself out of her mind. Her eyes were focused on his face. "Do you want to see more, Severus?"

Yes, of course he wanted to see more. He wanted to find out what else was in that mind of hers, then take her up against the wall, on top of his potions table, in his bedroom, in the shower, and everywhere in between.

Severus took a step back, trying to comprehend the thought that she was fantasizing about him in the same way that he fantasized about her. "Hermione, this is highly inappropriate."

"Is it? It seems completely natural to me."

It was completely natural that he would be attracted to his intelligent and pretty twenty-one-year-old apprentice. However, it was not natural that she would feel the same way about him.

As much as his body wanted it to happen, he knew his heart couldn't handle it. Once the novelty of being with her former professor had worn off, she would be gone, onto someone younger and more attractive than himself.

He did not want to be forced to deal with seeing the woman he loved rejecting him. It had happened before and had resulted in many years of heartbreak.

Truly it would be better to stop it before it started. Seeing her with another man would be difficult, but not nearly as difficult as it would be if they had begun a relationship. And it would hurt much less if he was the one who'd refused her.

"I'm sorry, Hermione," he said. "But I am afraid that I cannot return your feelings."

She nodded and was silent for a few moments. "I'm going to leave for the day, Severus." Her voice was slightly hoarse, the pain in her eyes completely apparent to him. Then she left the room.

That day, he had decided he would make himself as loathsome as possible. If she hated him, his rejection of her would be easier for her to deal with.

And it worked. Possibly too well, for it had taken only six days for her to storm out of his laboratory and find a new supervisor.

It was for the best, he had told himself at the time, a fact of which he was still trying to convince himself eight years later.

He still couldn't help but wonder what would have happened if he had responded differently.

_**Author's Note:**_ This was a SS/HG Exchange fanfic written about a year ago that I'm just now publishing to archives outside the community. It was originally a gift for Sabrebabe (who gave me a really great prompt) and was beta'd by the wonderfully speedy and thorough Melusin.


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